Tessa Smith is a B.A.H candidate specializing in the English Literature program, and has been named a National Terry Fox Scholar by the Prestigious Terry Fox Humanitarian Award Program. An artist, writer, highly experienced, professional keynote speaker, philanthropist, and activist for accessibility, Ms. Smith journeys’ through two types of cancer, and the loss of her right eye and left leg, as well as all her accomplishments afterwards, have led her to be a Terry Fox Poster Girl (2016), and Ambassador, as such with SickKids Hospital. Ms. Smith has been a freelance journalist for 5 years, appearing in publications such as the Toronto Sun, Toronto Star, and local papers.
Tessa has had an Opinion Column with the Peterborough Examiner for the last 2 years called Tessa Takes Charge. Currently, she sits on the Accessibility Subcommittee for PACHREA (Presidential Advisory Committee for Human Rights, Equity, and Accessibility) at Trent, and in July 2018 founded Chatability.org: an online community for students with disabilities attending high school and post-secondary education to connect, and fight for their rights. Ms. Smith continues her two-year term on the Board of Governors, occupying a student seat, finishing in June 2020.